LONDON, June 22 (Xinhua) -- Touting itself as an "international standard-bearer" for the protection of human rights and a "world human rights leader," Britain actually has a terrible record of human rights violations, especially since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Britain has indeed infringed upon human rights, among which is a blatant disregard for the right to life and health. As of 0000 GMT Tuesday, Britain has reported 4,656,535 confirmed COVID-19 cases, ranking seventh worldwide and the second in Europe, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
Vulnerable groups have been marginalized or even abandoned amid the pandemic. British media reported that during the peak of the epidemic in the country, many care centers and clinics issued DNACPR to elderly patients, requesting the latter to promise to give up first aid if they contract the coronavirus.
Besides, ethnic minorities have suffered from higher infection rates and mortality rates in the pandemic. An analysis of survival among confirmed COVID-19 cases showed that people of Bangladeshi ethnicity had around twice the risk of death when compared to people of White British ethnicity, and people of Chinese, Indian, Pakistani, other Asian, Caribbean and other Black ethnicity had between 10 and 50 percent higher risk of death when compared to White British people, according to a report released by Public Health England in June.
The economic living conditions of these groups have further deteriorated due to the pandemic. Nearly half of all people living in families where the household head is Black, African, or Caribbean are living in poverty, compared to just 19 percent of those living in families where the head of household is White, according to a report released by the Social Metrics Commission in June. People in Black and ethnic minority families are also between two to three times more likely to live in persistent poverty than people in White families, the report added.
Moreover, the number of hate crimes against Chinese in Britain has soared. Sky News revealed at least 267 hate crimes were recorded against Chinese people in the first three months in 2020 amid the COVID-19 crisis, almost three times the number in the same period in 2018 and 2019.
Increasing Islamophobia is also seen in the country. According to a report released by the British Islamic Human Rights Commission in March, prejudice and discrimination are occurring in Britain and are gradually being institutionalized on a regular basis.
Also, COVID-19 has led to an education deficit. Based on teacher estimates, on average, the gap between disadvantaged pupils and their peers had increased by 46 percent, according to the National Foundation for Educational Research in September 2020. Over half of teachers in the most deprived schools reported pupils were four months or more behind, compared to 15 percent of teachers in the least deprived schools, the report added.
Britain has been stricken by more severe poverty. In the 2018/2019 year, a total of 14.4 million people were living below the poverty line, 100,000 people more than in the previous year.
Britain's human rights issues also include a record number of new crime rates, the deep-seated problem of modern slavery and its massive war crimes, including civilian casualties it caused in Afghanistan. Enditem
